An Investing Education

For best results when investing, you’ll need to keep learning, and a great way to do so is by reading highly regarded books on investing and the business world. Here are some to consider: “One Up On Wall Street” by Peter Lynch (Simon & Schuster, $17). This is one of the most engaging investment books, and has been a gateway for many successful investors over several decades. Advocating buying great companies for the long term, Lynch believes that “any normal person using the customary 3 percent of the brain can pick stocks just as well [as], if not better [than,] the average Wall Street analyst.” “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham (Collins Business, $23). This is a heavier read, but well worth it. Warren Buffett says it’s “by far the best book about investing ever written,” and few value-oriented investors would disagree. Graham’s goal is to lay out a “positive program for commonstock investment,” which he does in this comprehensive text. Chapter 20, titled “‘Margin of Safety’ as the Central Concept of Investment,” is especially valuable. “You Can Be a Stock Market Genius” by Joel Greenblatt (Touchstone, $17). Greenblatt makes a complex subject, special-situations investing, accessible to novice investors. Like Lynch and The Motley Fool, he believes ordinary investors have the “power to beat the pants off the so-called market ‘experts.’” “Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist” by Roger Lowenstein (Random House, $19). There are gobs of books about Warren Buffett, and many people think this biography of him is the best. You’ll learn about his fascinating life and his investment approach, too. “The Motley Fool Investment Guide: Third Edition: How the Fools Beat Wall Street’s Wise Men and How You Can Too” by David and Tom Gardner (Simon & Schuster, $20). This is our first major book, newly updated and revised. It explains how to evaluate stocks and build a portfolio. We’ll offer a few more great